Video Podcasts: Learning by Listening?

This project’s aim was to support and facilitate master’s students’ preparation and collaboration by making video podcasts of short lectures available on YouTube prior to students’ first face-to-face seminar. The empirical material stems from group interviews, from statistical data created through YouTube analytics and from surveys answered by students after the seminar. The project sought to explore how video podcasts support learning and reflection online and how students use and reflect on the integration of online activities in the videos. Findings showed that students engaged actively in podcasts that included designed activities, and moreover – although to a lesser degree – that students engaged actively in podcasts that did not include additional activities, suggesting that learning via podcast does not always mean learning by passive listening.